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So Strange, Yet So Familiar

A Critical Analysis of the Film, “Yanggaw”

Mary Kareen Gancio

University of the Philippines

Diliman, Quezon City

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I. Introduction

In the past three to six years, we have seen the rise of

independent films in the country. Local “indie” films such as

“Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” (“The Blossoming of Maximo

Oliveros”, 2005), “Kubrador” (“The Bet Collector”, 2006), “Tribu”

(“Tribu”, 2007), “Serbis” (“Service”, 2008) had achieved

recognitions from local and international film festivals

including Cinemalaya, Cinemanila International Film Festival,

Gawad Urian, Cannes Film Festival and Asian Film Awards. These

films served as inspiration for other Filipino film enthusiasts

to produce their own movies. The availability of digital hand-

held cameras and user-friendly editing equipment has played a

significant role in the democratization of filmmaking in the

country. Filmmaking was no longer limited to large production

studios alone. These technological innovations gave even the

ordinary, middle class individuals the capability to produce

movies. Organizations such as Cinemalaya Foundation with the

Cultural Center of the Philippines and Econolink Investment, Inc.

as well as Cinema One and Creative Programs, Inc. have encouraged

filmmakers from the different regions of the country to surface

and participate in the production and revival of the Philippine

culture through filmic expression. They have provided these

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filmmakers with the opportunities and the platform to articulate

their own narratives or stories to audiences both local and

foreign – allowing these audiences to see the Philippines in a

variety of perspectives.

Given this presumption on the movements in the country’s

film industry, the researcher finds the importance and raises the

concern for media scholars to study the ways these films are able

to construct a social reality and for them to explore their

social and cultural implications. One particular film of regional

orientation that the researcher has found to be worthy of this

endeavor is Richard Somes’, “Yanggaw” (“Affliction”, 2008).

“Yanggaw” is a melodramatic horror film written in

Hiligaynon. It tells the story of a family from a remote barrio

in Western Visayas (a region in southern Philippines) whose

daughter had acquired a condition that forces her to crave for

human flesh. The story highlights the family’s struggle as they

deal with their daughter’s condition.

“Yanggaw” won in the 2008 Cinema One Originals Digital Film

Festival Awards including Best Director (Richard Somes), Best

Actor (Ronnie Lazaro), and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Torre).

The film was also nominated the 25th Philippine Movie Press Club

(PMPC) Star Awards for Movies. The categories where it was

nominated included: Best Digital Movie of the Year, Digital Movie

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Director of the Year, Supporting Actress of the Year, and Digital

Movie Cinematographer of the Year. The film also won Best Actor,

Best Sound, and Best Supporting Actress in the 2009 Gawa Urian

Awards. It had several screenings in Metro Manila and Bacolod.

The film was also exhibited at the Hong Kong Convention Center

during the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The primary subject of the movie, “Yanggaw”, is the aswang,

a mythical creature in the Philippine folklore. Noted as the most

feared among the mythical creatures in the country, they are

usually described as a combination of vampire and witch and are

almost always female. Other descriptions include shape-shifters

and corpse eaters. The most notable characteristic of the aswang

is its crave for human flesh, blood and innards. There are

various interpretations and versions of the aswang in the

different regions of the country, except in the Ilocos region –

the only region that does not have an equivalent myth.

In an interview with Michael Tan, dean of the College of

Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) at the University of the

Philippines Diliman, he mentioned that elements of folklore

reflect and alleviate public anxiety (Arao, 2009). As a folklore,

aswang reflects the people’s fear of the night and of incidents

and diseases that they could not explain, at least in the past,

before the advent of industrialization and modern medicine in the

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country. Nowadays, aswang stories have been extended to the

popular media including tabloids, books, TV, radio and film

basically for the purpose of entertainment.

In the Philippine cinema, films about aswang are often

associated with the region of Western Visayas. Nationally

acclaimed Western Visayan director, Peque Gallaga (Shake, Rattle,

and Roll I-IV (1984-1992), Impaktita (1989), Sa Piling ng mga

Aswang (1999)) has contributed to this myth’s association with

the region. Although it should be noted that Western Visayan

culture is as multi-dimensioned as any other culture out there,

this association does not necessarily have to be dismissed as

negative. It is simply because the region plays an important role

in keeping this folklore alive by being a source of aswang

stories. As described by Richard Bolisay (2008) in his review of

the film, Yanggaw,

“The aswang is understandably a striking facet of local belief that managed to endure through the years. In our ascent to the standards of Western living in exchange of cultural amnesia, it must be noted that the aswang is doing us a favor of sustaining this heritage.”

However, Bolisay continues that this mythical creature remains

the most exploited character in Pinoy horror stories particularly

in cinema. Tito Genova Valiente (2008) also emphasized in his

review of the same film that the aswang has become

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“…a major victim of the tendency of Filipino film directors to latch the figure to

Western, i.e. Hollywood, mode of narrative. Or, to Asian Gothic, i.e. Japanese horror.”

As a consequence, the myth has eventually lost its essence in

sustaining a part of our cultural heritage.

The researcher observed that majority of the Filipino horror

films portray aswang as a stranger with non-human, evil and

horrifying characteristics. It is usually the antagonist in these

movies. In “Yanggaw”, the mythical creature was presented in a

different manner. The film displayed the aswang’s vulnerability

and patheticity as a person. In this film, the aswang is the

victim. This manner of re-presentation exhibited the film’s

defiance from the conventions of the country’s mainstream horror

cinema.

The researcher also observed that “Yanggaw” is one of the

very few films in dialect with a regionally-specific narrative

that has achieved national recognition. This recognition served

as a significant milestone not only in the filmmaker’s career but

also in the Western Visayan culture considering that the region’s

representation in the national media scene is very limited. In

the Philippines where films are dominantly produced by

practitioners from the National Capital Region, it is easy to

assume that filmmakers from other regions such as the Western

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Visayas are not spared from their ideologies and discourses. On

the other hand, the researcher recognizes the possibility that

filmmakers from the other regions are capable of challenging

these dominant ideologies.

These observations have roused the researcher to explore the

ways the film, Yanggaw, either challenge or articulate the

existing dominant ideologies in our society. In this study, the

researcher intends to discuss the film’s social implication and

the ways it exemplifies media’s hegemonic and counter-hegemonic

potentials.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the socio-cultural elements of the film, Yanggaw?

2. How were these elements represented in the film?

3. How does the representation of these elements articulate

ideologies of a culture?

Objectives of the Study

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This study aims to explore the ways the film, Yanggaw,

articulated ideologies in our society. Specifically, this study

aims to

1. Identify the socio-cultural elements of the film

2. Explore the ways these elements were presented in the film

3. Examine and discuss how/whether these representations

articulated dominant ideologies in our soviety

Significance of the Study

By examining the film’s socio-cultural elements and the

manner these elements were represented in this film, this study

can reveal:

1. issues of hegemony in our society as perpetuated by the

country’s film industry

2. media’s potential in reinforcing subverted ideologies in

our society

3. language’s significant role in the process of reinforcing

subverted ideologies

This study can serve as a call for Filipino filmmakers to

become more culturally-critical when producing films. This study

can also serve as a useful resource for film scholars who intend

to conduct studies about similar topic in the future.

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Scope and Limitations

This study employs the cultural approach in communication

research. Cultural approach concerns with how the dominant

ideology of a culture subverts other ideologies via various

social institutions, the media in particular (Pernia, 2004).

Content analysis is used in this study to explore the film’s

socio-cultural elements more than its technical aspects.

This study also made use of local and foreign reviews of the

film gathered from the World Wide Web.

II. Review of Related Literature

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Philippine Cinema

In the Philippines, cinema is considered as a popular art

and a business at the same time. Since 1897, when it was first

introduced in the country as a technological innovation from the

West, film has won the hearts of most Filipinos. Besides being a

means of entertainment for the people, film also served as a time

capsule for individual as well as national experiences. The

medium’s money-making potential was also discovered by the early

proponents of film in the country. The Big Three production

studios in the past were primarily profit-oriented. One of the

greatest legacies of these pioneers is the use of capitalism in

the industry. Although film was initially used as an instrument

for American colonialism in its early years in the Philippines

(and arguably until today), it has undeniably evolved from being

a mere colonial remain into an indispensable industry in the

country. Needless to say that it plays an essential role in

Philippines’ socio-cultural as well as economic development.

Philippine cinema is classified into two according to its

motivation in film production. These are the mainstream and the

independent or alternative cinema. The mainstream cinema, which

is primarily profit-oriented in nature, has dominated film

production in the country since the time film became a popular

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medium. The contemporary mainstream cinema in the Philippines is

often criticized as being mediocre, unimaginative, and

predictable. Due to the economic demands of the industry,

producers have refused to take risks with new ideas that could

not guarantee return of their investment. On the other hand,

independent or alternative cinema, which is usually (not

exclusively) artistically-motivated, has recently reclaimed its

spot in the country’s film industry. It should be noted that

independent or alternative cinema is not new in the country’s

film scene. However, since cinema is naturally a capital-

intensive industry, producing films independently was a serious

challenge for these filmmakers. However, recent technological

innovations have significantly contributed to this cinema’s

propagation in the country. Initiatives taken by different

institutions such as universities, government units and private

corporations have also played an important role in the process by

providing venues for the exhibition of these materials.

Philippine cinema is also characterized by genres including

drama (melodrama), horror/fantasy, action, and comedy-musical.

For the purpose of this study, the melodramatic and horror genres

will be given more attention.

Melodrama in Philippine Cinema

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Melodrama is described as a dramatic work which exaggerates

plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. Elements

of melodrama had existed in 18th Century forms like sentimental

comedy, domestic tragedy, neoclassic tragedy and even pantomime

(www.wayneturney.20m.com, “Melodrama”, 2010). The use of this

genre in the Philippine cinema is said to have come from the

sinakulo or the passion play that was very popular among the

Filipinos prior to the advent of film in the country.

Filipino Family in Philippine Cinema

Melodramatic films perpetuate the strong bond shared among

members of a typical Filipino family. As Patrick Flores described

these films,

“the locus of the conflict is the home and the source of its problem is the threat to the cohesion which sustains the domestic universe” (Flores, 2008).

Kinship and family are two of the primary discourses presented in

Filipino melodramatic films such as Laurice Guillen’s, “Ang

Tanging Yaman” (“A Change of Heart”, 2000), Joel Lamangan’s “Mano

Po” (“Mano Po 1: My Family”, 2002), and Chito S. Roño’s “Bata,

Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa” (“Lea’s Story”, 1998). The genre was also

evidently popular in the independent cinema with films such as

“Magnifico” (2003), and “Mga Munting Tinig” (Small Voices, 2002).

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Horror in Philippine Cinema

Horror films are characterized by its ability to terrify its

viewers. In fact, this is primarily the aim of the film. Films in

this genre provide a revealing mirror image of the anxieties of

the people (www.horrorfilmhistory.com, Horror Film, 2010). In the

Philippine cinema, concepts for horror films are usually inspired

by pre-colonial myths combined with Hollywood’s mode of

narrative. One of the most favorite characters in this genre is

the aswang. Horror films that featured aswang include “Aswang”

(segment of Shake, Rattle, and Roll, 1984), and Impaktita both by

Peque Gallaga, and “Ang Lihim ng San Juaquin” (The Secret of San

Jauquin – segment of Shake Rattle, and Roll VII, 2005) by Richard

Somes.

Aswang in Philippine Cinema

Aswang (Philippine Ghoul) is a mythical creature in the

Philippine folklore. Noted as the most feared among the mythical

creatures in the country, they are usually described as a

combination of vampire and witch and are almost always female.

Other descriptions include shape-shifters and corpse eaters. The

most notable characteristic of the aswang is its crave for human

flesh, blood and innards (Gancio, 2010). The myth is especially

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popular in the region of Western Visayas. There are also other

versions of the myth in the other regions of the country, except

in Ilocos region, the only region with no counterpart for the

myth.

According to Michael Tan, dean of the College of Social

Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) at the University of the

Philippines Diliman, elements of folklore reflect and alleviate

public anxiety (Arao, 2009). In the case of the aswang, it is the

people’s fear of the night and of incidents and diseases that

they could not explain, (at least in the past, before the advent

of industrialization and modern medicine in the country) that is

being reflected and alleviated by this folklore. Nowadays, aswang

stories have been extended to the popular media including

tabloids, books, TV, radio and film basically for the purpose of

entertainment (Gancio, 2010).

Even in the early years of the film industry in the

Philippines, the folklore has already inspired a number of films

including George Musser’s, “Ang Aswang” (The Witch, 1933) with

English and Spanish dialogue, and Romy Suzara’s “Anak ng Aswang”

(1973). This local myth has also been featured in foreign

produced films like, “Aswang: A Journey into the Myth” in 2008 by

Jordan Clark, and “Surviving Evil” in 2009 by Terence Daw.

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The consistent presence of the aswang in these films has

also caught the attention of contemporary Filipino film critics.

For instance, Richard Bolisay (2008) observed that

“This bloodthirsty figure has that strong and timeless halo over its head that it remains the most exploited character in Pinoy horror stories, from short pieces of fiction to TV serials, in every Halloween episode of magazine shows and documentaries, news reports of terror in provinces, without cracking the obvious, where else could it give such esteemed overuse than cinema, the annual Metro Manila Film Festival that breathes life to endless Shake, Rattle, and Roll flicks that scare less than their ability to frustrate.”

Tito Genova Valiente (2008) added that the aswang has become

“…a major victim of the tendency of Filipino film directors to latch the figure to Western, i.e. Hollywood, mode of narrative. Or, to Asian Gothic, i.e. Japanese horror.”

Recently, attempts were made by independent film

directors/writers like Richard Somes (“Yanggaw”, 2008) and Ray

Gibraltar (“Wanted: Border”, 2009) to redefine the myth of the

aswang in the Philippine cinema.

Manila-centric Philippine Cinema

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In the years 1916-1940, the public of cinema has settled

into place, mainly in Manila and Cebu. Since then, consumption of

the Philippine films continued to spread all over the country.

Accounts on the history of Philippine cinema note that the

industry was also once set up in Cebu, the only vernacular film

industry that flourished in the 50s and 70s. However due to its

capital-intensive nature, coinciding with the limited

availability of most filmmaking resources in regions other than

Manila, the film industry in Cebu eventually died a natural

death. Flores noted that as a consequence,

“film became the only popular culture that can lay claim to a national audience inasmuch as radio, print, and TV all have vernacular versions.”

Recently a number of events were organized by government and

non-government agencies to once establish the film industry in

the other regions of the country. For instance, CINEMA REHIYON

2010, a project of the National Commission for Culture and the

Arts, Crossing Negros Cultural Foundation, Inc. and the Cultural

Center of the Philippines, features films and filmmakers from the

various regions across the country, highlighting the film

communities and movements in Bacolod, Baguio, Bohol, Calabarzon,

Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Naga, Pampanga, Pangasinan

and Samar.(www.culturalcenter.gov.ph, CINEMA REHIYON, 2010).

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Hiligaynon in Philippine Cinema

Hiligaynon is an Austronesian language spoken in Western

Visayas in the Philippines. Speakers of this language are called

Ilonggo(s). Ilonggo is used to refer to an ethnolinguistic group

inhabiting the province of Iloilo, and the culture associated

with native Hiligaynon speakers. The terms “Hiligyanon” and

“Ilonggo” is often used interchangeably by native speakers of the

language when referring to the local dialect. Hiligaynon is also

spoken in some parts of Mindanao like Koronadal City, South

Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Davao and many parts of North Cotabato.

Films written in regional dialect are very rare in the

country. Ilonggo films, in particular, are never mentioned in

majority of the accounts on the history of Philippine cinema. It

is only in the recent years that these types of films have

enjoyed national recognition. Film festivals like Cinemalaya and

Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival have featured non-

Tagalog films, including those written in Hiligaynon. Most recent

Ilonggo films featured in these film festivals are “Wanted:

Border” (2009 Cinema One Originals) by Ray Gibraltar, “Namets”

(2008 Cinemalaya Film Fest) by Jay Abello, and Yanggaw (2008

Cinema One Originals).

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Yanggaw

“Yanggaw” is an independent film written in Hiligaynon. The

word yanggaw is locally described as an infection that leads to

the condition of being an aswang. The film is about a family from

a remote barrio of Western Visayas, a region in southern

Philippines, whose daughter had acquired an illness that makes

her crave for human flesh. The film tackles two primary subjects,

the folklore of aswang and the values of a Filipino family. Both

melodramatic and horror in genre, the story revolves around the

family’s struggle as they deal with their daughter’s condition.

Directed and written by Richard Somes, the film won in the

2008 Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival. Its awards

included Best Director (Richard Somes), Best Actor (Ronnie

Lazaro), and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Torre). The film also

won Best Actor, Best Sound, and Best Supporting Actress in the

2009 Gawad Urian Awards. Other achievements of the film include

nominations for Best Digital Movie of the Year, Digital Movie

Director of the Year, Supporting Actress of the Year, and Digital

Movie Cinematographer of the Year in the 25th Philippine Movie

Press Club (PMPC) Star Awards for Movies.

The film had several screenings in Metro Manila and Bacolod.

It was also exhibited at the Hong Kong Convention Center during

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the Hong Kong International Film Festival and at the Reel Asian

International Film Festival in Toronto both in 2009.

III. Study Framework

Theoretical Framework

This study employs the cultural approach in communication

research. Cultural approach concerns with how the dominant

ideology of a culture subverts other ideologies via various

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social institutions, such as the media (Pernia, 2004).

Specifically, the Cultural Studies theory serves as the primary

theoretical framework of this study. Cultural Studies involves

the investigation of the ways culture is produced through a

struggle among ideologies (Littlejohn, 2005). For the Cultural

theorists, multiple ideologies exist next to one another in a

dynamic tension. This theory makes use of the concept of

articulation – the process through which realities are reinforced

by different social institutions, in explaining why certain

ideologies are more dominant than the others. As a social

institution, media is perceived by Cultural theorists as a

powerful tool in this process. Media is also seen as a site of

hegemony – the ability of a dominant group to exert its

ideologies upon another group, regardless of the latter consent.

This study draws its framework from the theory’s key issue

on the question of agency – whether resistance and change are

possible in a mass-mediated world. The researcher investigated

the ways the film, “Yanggaw” re-presents its socio-cultural

elements. The researcher also explored the possibilities that

this film articulated or challenged the dominant ideologies

perpetuated by the country’s film industry.

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Conceptual Framework

Media articulates dominant ideologies in a society.

Operational Framework

“Yanggaw” demonstrates media’s potential to articulate

ideologies in a society

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IV. Methods and Procedures

This study made use of the qualitative design of

communication research in examining the ways the film, “Yanggaw”

demonstrated media’s potential to articulate ideologies in the

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society. This research design best served the researcher’s intent

to focus on identifying the socio-cultural elements of the film

and discussing the manner these elements were re-presented in the

film. Specifically, the researcher applied content analysis of

the film, “Yanggaw” in this study. Reviews of the movie were also

gathered to substantiate the researcher’s discussion on the films

social implications.

V. Results and Discussions

Findings of this study revealed three notable socio-cultural

elements of the film. These are the elements of the aswang

folklore, the Filipino family and the Hiligaynon dialect.

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The Aswang Folklore

The mythical creature in the film, “Yanggaw” was

characterized by the following features:

1) The aswang is a woman, a characteristic consistent with how

the myth is popularly depiction in Philippine folklore and

cinema.

2) The aswang is the vulnerable and pathetic victim that was

supposed to have been saved.

3) The aswang is seen through the eyes of her family from

inside her own home, a rare experience provided for the

audience, as opposed to the conventional “visitor’s” or

“stranger’s” point of view

The Filipino Family

The Filipino Family was characterized by the following

features

1) The family is financially insufficient

2) The family demonstrates the close bond among its members

3) The family is very patriarchal in nature with the father

having the most say in the decisions for the family.

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4) The family lives in a rural community, suggestive of both

the simple lifestyle and the inaccessibility to modern

services

The Hiligaynon Dialect

Used as the primary language in the film, the researcher

observed the following

1) Hiligaynon was initially awkward to listen to

2) Hiligaynon served as a reconciling element between the lived

culture of the Hiligaynon-speaking individual and the

culture prescribed by the popular media.

3) Hiligaynon could have served as a limiting factor in the

film for non-Hiligaynon speakers to understand the essence

of the narrative

4) Hiligaynon was spoken naturally by majority of the casts

The representation of the aswang in the film as a female is

consistent with the popular depiction of the myth in Philippine

folklore and the cinema. Since the idea of a female aswang is not

new, this allowed the audience to focus on the other elements of

the film without being disturbed by the gender of its character.

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The aswang is often depicted as a monster that consciously

and willfully submit to their evil tendencies. In this film, more

emphasis was given on the aswang’s human weaknesses and internal

conflicts as it struggles against these tendencies. Besides the

multi-dimensioned persona given to this character, the film also

generates, among its audience, a sense of attachment to the

aswang by using the family’s point of view in the narrative.

Poverty, family and patriarchy are three of the most

recognizable themes of Filipino films that were exploited in

Yanggaw. In this film, the family was treated in a conventional

manner – financial insufficiencies as a prevailing cause of

conflict; a father who makes the decision for the whole family; a

family that is extremely attached with each other. The idea that

rural lifestyle is associated with misery as brought by the

limited access to modern technology was also articulated in the

film.

Finally, the film radically departed from the conventions of

the Philippine cinema with its use of the Hiligaynon language.

More common in the regional radio dramas, Hiligaynon initially

sounded strange in film. The strangeness was eventually lost as

the language started to blend with the other aspects of the film.

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For instance when it was combined with the gritty and unstable

camera shots, it created an extreme sense reality, at least among

the Ilonggo-speaking audience. Foreign reviews of the film reveal

that the absence of a background of the myth prevented foreign

audience from experiencing the same thrill that the film has

generated among its Filipino audiences.

VI. Summary and Conclusion

Generally, the film demonstrated a negotiation between

foreign and local influences, as well as dominant and undermined

ideologies. The film articulated the following dominant ideas of:

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(a)the female aswang; (b)the poor Filipino family that is

patriarchal by nature; and (c)the rural lifestyle that is

relatively miserable. On the other hand, the film managed to

create a new perspective of the Philippine cinema by utilizing

local or regionally-specific resources such as the folklore of

aswang and the Hiligayon dialect. It is evident that “Yanggaw”

served as a site of hegemony and counter-hegemony at the same

time.

References

Arao, D. A. (2009, February). Folklore kasi! Unpopular folklore and popular culture (Interview with Michael Tan). Plaridel (A Journal of Philippine Communication, Media, and Society), 6 (1), 123-142.

Flores, P. Art and society handbook. Quezon City: CAL

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Foundn & CHED, 1998.

Littlejohn, S. and Foss, K. Theories of human communication. 8th Ed. CA: Wadsworth:2010.

Pernia, E. Communication research in the Philippines issues and methods. QC: University of the Philippines Press: 2004.

Stam, R. Film theory: An introduction. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2000.

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